author
John M. (John Metcalf) Taylor
1845–1918
Best known for bringing forgotten episodes of early American history back into view, this Connecticut writer explored colonial law, witchcraft trials, and imperial politics with a clear, research-minded style. His books reflect a strong interest in the people and institutions that shaped New England's past.
1 Audiobook
The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut (1647-1697)
by John M. (John Metcalf) Taylor
About the author
Born in 1845 and dying in 1918, John M. Taylor wrote historical works rather than fiction, and his surviving books show a steady interest in law, public life, and the strange corners of the past. He is credited as the author of Maximilian and Carlotta: A Story of Imperialism (1894), Roger Ludlow, the Colonial Lawmaker (1900), and The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut, 1647–1697 (1908).
His best-known work today is probably The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut, a study of accusations and trials in colonial New England. The book presents those events for general readers in a direct, accessible way, which helps explain why it has continued to circulate in later reprints and public-domain editions.
Taylor also appears to have been closely connected with Hartford, Connecticut, and his name remained important enough in that community to be remembered by institutions such as Loomis Chaffee. While many personal details are harder to confirm from the sources available here, his published work clearly places him among the regional historians who helped preserve Connecticut's early stories for later generations.